“All too often, we wish for one thing, but reality gives us another thing instead. There is no point in dwelling on the thing we did not get, and instead, it is better to spend our time making the best use of what we did get.” - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy

“Inform Xiao Jiangjun Sharif that he is to withdraw before the enemy could catch him in a pincer attack. Tell him to be conservative and do not force things,” dictated Long Jiangjun Leung Hua-Jeong to a messenger beside him. “He can withdraw the army at his judgement. Prioritize the safety of our elites over the destruction of the enemy.”

“As you command, Long Jiangjun!” said the messenger before he led his horse to a gallop towards the battlefield. Fortunately the recipient of the message, Xiao Jiangjun Ishak mil Sharif, should be near the rear of the army as the man was more a scholar than a warrior and commanded from a safe location instead of heading near the frontlines.

Hua-Jeong had observed the sudden turn of the battle. The springing of the trap was to his expectations, since he was the one who ordered ten thousand of his elite infantrymen under Sharif’s leadership to disguise themselves and blend in with the rest of the defeated army from the northern detachment. He had not expected the enemies to be able to react so swiftly and decisively to his stratagem, but it was also something he could gain valuable information from.

The rapid, effective, and decisive movement on the enemy’s part meant that they either had a skilled tactician that expected such a trap and prepared accordingly, or that their frontline commanders had more autonomy than in the Imperial army and were decisive when push came to shove. He himself doubted that he could have made such a bold decision if he was in the same position, at a lower rank.

All those were information on the enemy army he had not possessed until now, as the defeat in the east had not revealed these points due to the nature of the fighting there. A prolonged siege followed by a swift and devastating defeat did not make for suitable situations to gather information on the enemy’s capability in direct combat.

Originally he had intended to deal the enemy coalition a painful blow today, but their swift reaction threatened the safety of his elites instead, as even if he was confident in their skills, a pincer attack would still take a toll, and likely cause unacceptable casualties. It was one major reason Hua-Jeong called for a swift retreat with safety as their priority.

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“Should we send out more riders to help keep the enemy distracted, Long Jiangjun?” asked Zhong Jiangjun Zahira Al-Nairi from atop her steed to his left. The Imperial army had sent out around five thousand of their cavalrymen to support the stratagem but that had failed to achieve the desired effect either.

“No, leave it be for now. Instead tell our riders out there to prioritize keeping their distance. We have already seen how devastating these odd cavalry of the enemy could be in a melee, and our riders are not their match by any means,” stated Hua-Jeong as Zahira nodded and relayed his instructions to the bannermen next to her. The bannermen in turn swung the banner at the top of his long pole on a predetermined pattern to relay the orders to the distant cavalrymen.

While such a manner of communication was limited in what it could convey, it was still the best means to pass down relatively complex orders over long distances. By Xiao Jiangjun Sharif’s side an interpreter of such commands who would be watching the flags all the time would notice the commands and relayed the order promptly.

Sharif himself – as well as all generals in the Imperial army – would be able to interpret the orders without aid, but their attention was generally focused on the battlefield, which were typically on the opposite direction as where the signals might come from, hence the need for a dedicated watcher to look out for such flag signals.

As it was, the Imperial cavalry managed to keep their distance from the odd enemies that used wooly rams as mounts, utilizing their superior speed and maneuverability to keep their distance and rain arrows down on their foes. The rain of arrows did very little, however, as neither the enemy riders nor their mounts seemed to be perturbed by the projectiles and kept chasing doggedly, even if the occasional rider or ram here and there fell from lucky shots.

In fact, any time the Imperial cavalry attempted to get closer to shoot more accurately, the squat enemies atop the rams would then bring out large crossbows that were somehow capable of reloading their own bolts and shoot back at them. The impact from the crossbow bolts were far more devastating on the Imperial riders and their mounts, and any that took a direct hit did not get back up.

All that resulted in the current situation where the Imperial cavalry riders kept to a rather long distance – a bit too long to shoot their arrows accurately or comfortably, for that matter – and loosed rather inaccurate arrows while their ram-riding enemies doggedly chased after them. Neither side were able to really hurt the other that way, and the Imperials did not dare to get closer after they had a taste of the crossbows their enemies used.

Because of that the cavalries from both sides effectively neutralized one another’s presence, with the Imperial cavalry rendered incapable of doing much if any damage to the Coalition forces while the Coalition’s own cavalry was busy ensuring that the Imperial cavalry remained occupied in such a manner. Neither side could depart without giving their opponents free reign over the battlefield, which would more than likely result in thousands of casualties for their side, at the very least.

Despite how the riders actively harried and pursued each other, the fighting on their end had pretty much devolved to a stalemate, regardless of appearances.